I'm a big fan of Dennis Lehane. His books are heavy subject matter with lots of moral questions and they don’t offer the easy way out. They also have sharply drawn characters and excellent dialogue (“I hate Coors light, it’s like sex on a boat. It’s fucking to close to water.”) so you get the sense they’d translate well to film right off the bat. I read Mystic River before the movie came out and I thought it was an amazing adaptation of a fantastic book. Gone Baby Gone is another amazing adaptation of a fantastic book and I think it’s a better film- no small feat.
Gone Baby Gone is my favorite book in a series of five novels centered around private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro so I went in with a certain anticipation as well as loaded gun ready to fire in the direction of any discrepancy I had with the movie in regards to it’s treatment and faithfulness to the book. By the time the introduction to the story had started - about 3 minutes into the film - I had a sense I was in for something special. Ten minutes later I was enthralled. Enthralled is one of those words that gets tossed around recklessly when describing movies- I’m sure I’ve done it myself – but this film is truly deserving of the word. My fiancé turned to me about 30 minutes and said, “It’s so good.” So true. She loved the books too so we were both super amped.
The film is about a little girl, Amanda McCready, who is kidnapped right out of her mother’s apartment. Her mother may or may not have been drinking and doing coke in a bar. She doesn’t seem to be too concerned that her daughter is gone. Baby. (sorry I had to do it.) The girl's Aunt & Uncle do care and they hire Kenzie and Gennaro to supplement the investigation because they will get info on the street and through the neighborhood unlike the cops. The film wastes little time getting into the meat of the story and letting us soak in the locals and locales. The film was shot in and around Boston, mainly in Dorchester where the film took place and you get an immediate sense of time and place thanks to the use of real locations and actual people from the neighborhood. I don’t want to get into the plot anymore as it’s better to discover it as you watch the film.
The acting is terrific across the board. Casey Affleck is perfect in the role of Kenzie and so is Michelle Monaghan as Gennaro. Again, they are sharply drawn in the book so I had a clear idea in my head of all the characters. Both Affleck and Monaghan are exactly what I pictured and they nail the roles. Casey Affleck is having a helluva year. I’ve heard his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is incredible. And his work here is nothing less than exceptional. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman are great as usual but some of best performances come from Amy Ryan, as the girl’s mother and Titus Welliver, as the girl’s uncle. Their characters are complex and three dimensional and you never doubt them for a moment. Welliver has a pivotal scene that I won’t soon forget. Of special note, John Ashton is in the film. Anyone who is a fan of Beverly Hills Cop or Midnight Run knows who I’m talking about. He’s a gem and he’s great in the movie. Why he doesn’t get more work is beyond me. The film is beautifully shot by John Toll and perfectly cut by William Goldenberg. This is the type of film that needs to be spot on editing-wise because if there’s any lag or confusion you’re done for. The pacing in this film is not your normal type where there’s a constant build to the ending. It makes you work and think. Which leads me to my next point.
For those of you that didn't already know this, Ben Affleck directed the film. Yes the same Ben Affleck who starred in Armageddon, Gigli, Surviving Christmas, Jersey Girl and Daredevil. He’s also the same Ben Affleck who wrote and acted in Good Will Hunting. He’s smart guy. I’ve never had a beer with him but I’ve seen him on Bill Maher a few times and he’s clearly very intelligent. But I also think he gets a bad rap for his acting. He hasn’t made some of the best choices but he also has done some very good work. Have you ever seen Changing Lanes? How about Dogma, Chasing Amy, Boiler Room, Going All the Way or Smokin’ Aces? I liked him better than Matt Damon and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. His speech about “You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket” is great and it’s what gets us to the end of that film, another scene he nails. He gave the best performance EVER as the typical “dick” in high school in Dazed & Confused. Given the right role, the boy can act. Gone Baby Gone proves he can direct. Really, really, really well. He co-wrote the screenplay and the choices he makes there are perfect but to translate it to the screen is a whole different ballgame. He pulls it off but at the same time he never takes the easy way out. The film is a huge moral question and it doesn’t let you off the hook. There are no simple solutions in life and this film understands that and doesn’t feel the need to interject a neatly wrapped up little package of them. Again, it makes you work and think. Where do you stand?
As I mentioned earlier, the pacing is way off from you’re normal thriller, but it works. Really fucking well. There is a documentary feel to a lot of the street scenes- it feels authentic yet self-contained- it doesn’t take you out of the film. Tone and pacing are paramount to making a good film. If you don’t have it you might as well pack up and go the fuck home. Gone Baby Gone has it in spades but the tone and pacing they created must’ve been a challenge. I can’t wait to see what Affleck directs next. I hope he does something soon.
I need to see the film again, but there may not be anything wrong with it. That’s pretty back-slappingly impressive.
The NY Post had some info via Brad Grey yesterday. Brad Grey currently runs Paramount. He's a force in Hollywood. I'm a fan because his taste is right in my wheelhouse (that’s disgusting) and he supports people and projects I want to see get made. Check out his 
